An encyclopedia of (computer) knowledge

Tuesday

For the past 30 years, Alan Freedman has been on a singular mission: to clearly and concisely define every computer term and technology term that’s used on a regular basis.

The task is a labor of love for Freedman and his wife, Irma Morrison, whose “Computer Desktop Encyclopedia” has been published in multiple languages and a variety of platforms since its first, 60-page, spiral-bound edition was issued in 1981.

Freedman was first introduced to computers in 1960, when his mother insisted he enroll in “automation” school. There, he learned to wire IBM plugboards — which, according to Freedman’s encyclopedia, were the predecessor to today’s software programming, and were used in early computers and tabulating machines. His first job was with Blue Shield in Camp Hill.

He began teaching computer classes in 1977 on behalf of the American Management Association. The next year, he and his wife founded The Computer Language Co. Inc., and he continued offering classes through the association.

“You’re talking to a relic,” said Freedman, who turns 70 this year. “I am an antique.”

The encyclopedia grew out of the computer classes, Freedman said. Frustrated with the lack of concise definitions for computer terms, Freedman decided to develop his own glossary, which he distributed to his students.

“I couldn’t find anything that had any terms of any relevance,” he said. “That’s how it started.”

The first edition of what was then called “The Computer Glossary” appeared in 1981 and included 300 computer-related terms. Today, the latest version of the “Computer Desktop Encyclopedia” has more than 25,000 entries. It’s available online, through a yearly, $7.99 subscription, or through applications for iPhones and Android devices.

“It’s a unique collection,” Freedman said. “It’s 30 years of work. It continues to be worked on.”

Freedman works out of the home he and his wife built themselves nearly three decades ago in the village of Point Pleasant, in Plumstead Township. He moves easily among multiple computer monitors, some of them turned vertically to maximize Web page images and minimize scrolling. If there’s a new computer product available, Freedman has it. After all, he reasons, he can’t write about something without being familiar with it, first hand.

He obsesses over definitions, writing and rewriting them until they are, in his view, as understandable as possible.

“I’m writing for every student,” he said. “I’m writing it for lay people. I’m just trying to make it clearer.”

Freedman said he has several thousand regular subscribers, but over the years, the encyclopedia has had more than a million users. Clients include the popular computing publication PCMag.com, which uses Freedman’s definitions for its own online encyclopedia.

But as technology has changed, so has Freedman’s business. He faces stiff competition from sites such as Wikipedia, where content is free but, Freedman argues, definitions are less succinct and harder to understand than those he’s spent years perfecting.

(In fact, search for “computer encyclopedia” on Google, and the Computer Desktop Encyclopedia turns up at No. 5, behind Apple, a site called Webopedia, Encyclopedia.com and the Wikipedia entry for the term “computer.”)

As for Freedman, his ideal situation would be for his company to be purchased by someone who allows him to continue his “holy mission” of writing, and refining, definitions for the most widely used computer terms.

“I’d like my last week (of life) to be spent finishing up the latest version,” Freedman said. “Hopefully, that’s 20 years from now.”